Subtle music plays as I climb the stairs onto the stage in the Boulder High Auditorium. Iridescent fabric hangs to separate me from the outside world, and lights above change colors, highlighting the program’s long list of names. Although I saw Boulder High’s annual Black Box showing last year, suspense hangs in the air as the audience waits for the show to start.
With roots in avante-garde culture in the early 1900s, Black Box gained popularity as an intimate and explorative take on an ancient concept. Black Box differs from your average musical or theater production through the usage of fewer props and background sets, and members of the audience seated on all sides of the room.
Black Box is usually more personal than the traditional musical or play, resulting both from the smaller audience size and the complex motion of the character’s movement. With viewers on all sides, actors move around the space, and turn their backs on one another, making the audience feel as if they too are living within the scene. Boulder High’s Black Box cast seamlessly drifted through cues and brought cohesion to the show in order to take advantage of the sensation of immersion.
This effect was no doubt made possible by backstage crews, staffed by students such as Bennet McDannell, ‘25, who is one of two stage managers at Boulder. I interviewed McDannell an hour before the start of the first performance on Wednesday night, during which she was finalizing notes for the performance, ensuring that the staging ran without a hitch. “I basically am like flight command,” says McDannell, who is in charge of letting everyone in the show, including lights and sound crews, know what to do and when to do it.
McDannell feels that the hardest part of her job is to get organized beforehand, but loves the structure of Black Box, especially the unique seating arrangements. “I love that they’re on stage. It feels so much more personal.” She felt that this year’s performance was especially good, stating “I love our adaption of Tell-Tale Heart…we did it in a unique way.” Tell-Tale Heart tells the story of a man planning to murder a girl. After he kills her and hides the evidence, he eventually confesses because he is tortured by the sound of her heart, represented by an interpretive dance.
Another crucial aspect of every theater event is the Front of House crew. Logan LaVoy, Head of Front of House, has been in Front of House since sophomore year, and describes her job as “pretty crazy.” The Front of House crew is responsible for arranging ticket sales, advertising and promoting shows and seating as well as greeting the audience on show nights. They are also responsible for making posters for the event. “The easiest part,” says LaVoy, “[is] talking to people.”
After being greeted by members of Front of House, and finding my seat, the show began. The shows ranged from hilarious, to terrifying to absolutely heart-wrenching and back again. One show, Family by Numbers, directed by Lily Krauss, can only be described as an emotional rollercoaster. The show depicts how family members may make mistakes and grow apart at different times in their lives. “The goal, ultimately, it wasn’t to make…people sad,” says Lily Kraus, 25’, “The goal was [for people] to connect to any part of their being.” The emotional depth of the actors was evident, and I had the remind myself it wasn’t reality as the oldest child fell to their death. “The mom’s reaction to learning about the child’s death…was so beautiful,” comments Kraus, “It’s this visceral scream.” In the end, the family realizes that they will always be five, showcasing the love that a family has for one another even in difficult times.
“It’s just really magical to see something that is like entirely student-made come together and just be so rife with different emotions and experiences,” adds Kraus, “The talent of everyone involved is really, really, really cool.”
As the actors take their bows I am in total shock—the amount of skill and hard work of everyone involved in Black Box sets in over the audience. Suddenly applause erupts and people make their way out. From the most hidden lights worker to the actor with the most lines, everyone in Black Box has added something unique to create a piece of art that is both original and professional and a testament to the talent of Boulder High students.